Determining the integrity of digital media is of increasing importance due to the proliferation of both real and forged imagery on social media platforms. It is easier than ever to use manipulation programs (e.g., Photoshop) to alter the content of an image in order to misinform the public or to commit fraud. As such, there is a need for methods to assess the integrity of imagery in both the commercial and government sectors. These methods must work with uncontrolled source imagery and produce, with as little user input as possible, a numerical assessment of the probability that the image or video has been altered in such a way as to misinform or mislead the recipient.
In the government sector, DARPA has launched a program called MediFor (Media Forensics) to assess the integrity of visual media used by intelligence analysts for enemy force assessment, counter-intelligence, and to debunk misinformation from foreign intelligence services.
In the commercial realm, the ubiquity of digital cameras in mobile phones and other devices has made the assessment of integrity increasingly important. Insurance adjusters have traditionally been a user of prior art digital image integrity assessment in order to assess whether images of a car before or after an accident have been altered to exaggerate or understate damage. Other industries such as the parcel delivery industry have exhibited an interest in the use of digital imagery to document the condition of a parcel when it comes into their custody, and have similar concerns about the veracity of customer-provided imagery.